US Patent 7461349 Methods and apparatus for applying functions to content

An editor application receives a selection of content made with a selection tool such as a computer mouse. The editor application monitors one or more motion attributes (e.g., direction, speed, etc.) associated with the selection tool during the selection of content. During a respective operation (e.g., pasting) of the selected content, the editor application takes into account the one or more motion attributes associated with the selection tool when initiating a paste function with respect to the selected content. That is, the one or more motion attributes observed during the selection of content dictate (at least in part) how editor application will use the selected content. For example, a user can select text from right-to-left. During a respective copy and paste operation, because the text was selected in reverse order, the editor application reverses an ordering of how the characters appear in the pasted text.